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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26364793">Codependent</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/soukokuforlife14/pseuds/soukokuforlife14'>soukokuforlife14</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Little Love And Understanding [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>IronStrange, M/M, My insomnia is your insomnia, Steve isn’t in this fic but he’s still a dick, never added to it tho so here!, wrote this ages ago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:33:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26364793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/soukokuforlife14/pseuds/soukokuforlife14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Tony.”</p><p>“Yes, love?” Tony said, voice dripping sugar.</p><p>“What time is it,” Stephen asked again, this time more awake as he spoke.</p><p>“Two hours short of an early morning.” Tony responded sweetly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Little Love And Understanding [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1181786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Codependent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a short lil thang I wrote forever ago and even posted on Tumblr, however I didn’t post it here cuz I thought I’d add more to it but...anyway since it worked just fine as is and I haven’t posted anything recently I figured why the fuck not? So, here we are! Enjoy! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You should be sleeping.” Stephen berated softly, a whisper of irritation bogged down by his own grogginess.</p><p>“Maybe I prefer just watching you sleep.” Tony argued, smiling slightly.</p><p>“Bull.” Stephen breathed, zero bite to the single phrase that only made Tony smile wider.</p><p>“What time is it,” Stephen mumbled into his pillow.</p><p>“That answer is above your pay grade.” Tony responded.</p><p>Stephen cracked an eye open, glancing about the space and the relative darkness that engulfed the room before landing squarely on Tony.</p><p>“Tony.”</p><p>“Yes, love?” Tony said, voice dripping sugar.</p><p>“What time is it,” Stephen asked again, this time more awake as he spoke.</p><p>“Two hours short of an early morning.” Tony responded sweetly.</p><p>“Did you have a nightmare?” Stephen asked, resigned to the fact that his lover would never sleep nor rise at particularly normal times.</p><p>“No...yes. Maybe.” Tony answered, smile faltering. </p><p>“Headache?”</p><p>“A little tiny one.”</p><p>“Were you grinding your teeth?”</p><p>“Possibly.”</p><p>“Tony,” Stephen sighed.</p><p>“Fine, yes. My jaw hurts.”</p><p>“What is it?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Not fun.” Tony responded. That got Stephen to properly open both his eyes, displeasure clearly seen despite the darkness.</p><p>Huffing an exasperated breath, Stephen sat himself up and without missing a beat deadpanned, “There are beds in Kamar-Taj.”</p><p>“You wouldn’t.”</p><p>“I absolutely would. The beds are far less comfortable and there are no sexy mechanics to cuddle with. But at least I’ll get some sleep.” Stephen said.</p><p>Tony made a sound of offense, “Hey, I didn’t wake you up!”</p><p>Stephen squinted at him, the action difficult to see but practically felt regardless, “Your thoughts are <i>extremely</i> loud.”</p><p>Tony went to respond to that with something that would continue to hold Stephen’s attention away from the fact that Tony had been awake for the better part of the night because of a nightmare. Except, Stephen cut him off before he got even a syllable out.</p><p>“Friday, lights.”</p><p>Friday complied without a response and Tony recoiled, his eyes burning at the sudden brightness of the room, “Ow, <i>rude.</i>”</p><p>Stephen’s brow was raised expectantly and he hadn’t even flinched at the sudden wash of bright light. Asshole.</p><p>“You’re fine. What’s bothering you?”</p><p>Tony attempted to smile, though it was a clear sign he was about to bullshit, “It’s not a big deal I swear. Besides, we’re going to see Morgan tomorrow! Absolutely no reason to be anything but ecstatic and hey that’s probably all it is, <i>excitement</i>—,”</p><p>
  <i>“Tony.”</i>
</p><p>Uh-oh. That was a scary tone of voice and one Stephen usually reserved for his most incompetent students. Tony refused to mess with that.</p><p>With a put upon sigh, Tony said, <i>“Fine,”</i> raising a hand to absently trace at the scars on his neck he continued, “Sometimes I dwell on the shit that’s already happened. It’s really not—,”</p><p>“So you had a PTSD induced nightmare about everything that happened and have spent however many hours just not dealing with it?” Stephen interrupted. </p><p>Again, <i>asshole.</i></p><p>“Not exactly that. But...close.” Tony answered, still tracing the webs of scarring. Fingertips applying slight pressure, ghost pains flaring at the touch, muted sensations of power which had bled from the stones in such abundance he’d thought he’d go insane with it rippling beneath his skin.</p><p>At times he’d forget it all happened six years ago. That Thanos came and went. That the mad Titan was gone and no further threats of the otherworldly type have come knocking since. Sure, domestic squabbles were still a thing and the world was still stitching itself back together even after over half a decade later. But nothing too severe, nothing Iron Man couldn’t handle himself if he weren’t retired. Nothing that Peter Parker could write home about as anything more than an interesting exercise. Nothing that T’Challa couldn’t talk his way through. </p><p>Nothing like the mad Titan with a god complex and desire to murder half the universe’s occupants.</p><p>Stephen exhaled through his nose, shoulders sinking slightly as he reached up with quivering fingers and pressed the tips upon his marred flesh. They were wounds that had long healed but still engulfed half his body, struck up his neck and swallowed the left side of his face. Tony always flinched when Stephen touched them, like somehow this time Stephen would be disgusted. This time he’d see how ugly they were. This time he would leave.</p><p>“Was that all?” Stephen asked gently, his eyes glinting a mossy green, different from the day before when they were nearly silver littered with speckled hues of blue.</p><p>“Well it <i>was,</i>” Tony murmured, petulant tinge to his voice, shutting his eyes as he accepted the sorcerer’s touch.</p><p>Stephen’s hand moved up a bit, thumb coming over to swipe at his jawline, lips quirking to the side as he huffed through his nose, “You aren’t ugly. And I much prefer you to be horribly scarred than lost to death’s hand.”</p><p>Tony snorted, a sound which would’ve made his mother balk and his father just plain angry, “I think I’d just prefer to be pretty.”</p><p>Stephen breathed a laugh. The slight sound tugging a smile onto Tony’s own face, his hand meeting Stephen’s scarred one. Fingers intertwining, grip firm, a slight squeeze of reassurance.</p><p>“You’re plenty pretty like this you know,” Stephen murmured, amused.</p><p>Tony opened his eyes, gaze flicking between Stephen’s two incredibly serious ones. Sometimes he wondered if the affection he saw swirling among nuances of color in those irises of his, would eventually dull. Would eventually fade and disappear.</p><p>But after three years of being together, two of being married, it only seems to have deepened.</p><p>“I still don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.” Tony deadpanned, carrying Stephen’s hand from his scarred flesh to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it as he sighed.</p><p>Stephen shook his head slightly, “I figured that would be the case. Shower?”</p><p>Tony frowned, “You...you don’t have to get up.”</p><p>Stephen cocked his eyebrow, “If you don’t get anymore sleep I won’t either. It’s a vicious side-effect of being codependent and I don’t feel like magicking myself to sleep. So I reiterate, would you like to shower together?”</p><p>“Well, if you’re going to insist.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for readin!! 💖 kudos and comment are love. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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